soled soledad?a, we'll stay with the story and stay with you as we wait for something to happen in this case as 300 police officers are now standing by to try to see if they can get that suspect out of that home. diana, thank you. >>> let's turn to politics now, where the number one issue for voters in illinois, it effeting president obama, according to cnn's exit poll, what drove conservatives and middle income voters to rally around mitt romney. governor romney scored a decisive win in illinois, took home 47% of the vote to nt is snt's 35% of the vote, and that win helped mitt romney pad his del lat count, now at 562, senator santorum has less than half at 249. mitt romney is taking new jabs at president obama. >> we once built an interstate highway system, and the hoover dam. now we can't even build a pipeline. i mean, we once led the world in manufacturing and exports, investment. today we lead the world in lawsuits. you know, when we replace a law professor with a conservative businessman as pr

i, quite honestly, soledad, thank you that's a mistake. newt gingrich, someone like a rick santorum who has strong conservative credentials and will stand very clearly and state those. in particular, in the case of former speaker newt gingrich. he doesn't just talk the talk. he has walked the walk. i mean, he was two heartbeats away from the president from four years, balanced the budget, had welfare reform, worked with president clinton. he's my man. >> i believe that when you say some want to get it over with or that he's a safe candidate, is safe candidate really mean el t electabelec electable candidate and that's what they want to coalesce behind? >> speaker gingrich has said many times on the campaign trail, do you want someone to just be there and manage the decay or do you want someone who is really going to make the changes necessary to get this country back as that shining city on the hill that ronald reagan so adequately described years ago? that's the way i feel about it. i think that's the way a lot of georgia ans feel about i

soledad? >> rob, thank you for that update. >>> other stories, of course, making news today and christine romans has a look at those for us. good morning. >> good morning. breaking news from afghanistan where two more american soldiers have been killed and a third american has been wounded. a gunman in afghan national army uniform and another man opening fire at a nato base in southern kandahar. those shootings the latest in a series of attacks against americans and other members of the nato alliance following the burning of korans at a u.s. military base. >>> thousands of syrian troops stepping up their attacks on rebel strongholds in holmes. a senior government official is vowing to "cleanse" the district of all opposition fighters. rebel forces report communications have been cut off in some areas of the city. getting support here in the u.s. because patriots who want to end the regime are planning a large demonstration in charlotte, north carolina, home to one of the largest syrian communi

soledad? >> thank you very much.o as she's talking about the predictions we're going to bring in the panel to discuss it and simon constable with the "wall street journal" as well. i want to talk because we're talking -- sorry. mike problems. look, a mike has appeared and it seems to work. >> we all need to share this? >> someoning is going to tell me if this is the talking stick. implications, we're going to wait to see what those numbers are at 8:30 eastern time. implications for the presidency and for people who would like to be president are huge. >> it's gigantic. everything is jobs, jobs shs jobs in 2012. as your graph showed, president obama has been bringing the economy back. a lot of people are frustrated it's not fast enough. as long as the president can create a trend for himself, this one is a little unusual. you just -- it's a little bit of of dip from the last but you want to keep see that graph goes upwards. really though for the election it's all going to matter what that graph says in, say, september

i'm soledad o'brien. people from across this nation are here in this audience tonight to talk about this case and the questions that it raises. questions that cut to the heart of a country that promises liberty and justice for all. >> no justice, no peace! no justice, no peace! >> the killing of an unarmed teenager by a neighborhood watch volunteer touches a raw nerve across the nation. >> i know i cannot bring my baby back. but i'm sure going to make changes so that this does not happen to another family. >> the absolute facts lie with two people and one of them is dead. >> the case of trayvon martin is not unique. a child so innocent killed by a vigilante. >> was it racially motivated? the answer is absolutely not. >> what we worry about is seeking the truth. >> tonight, we separate the facts from the hype and the emotion and have a candid conversation about race and justice. this is about more than trayvon martin. this is about the future of every child in america. >> you know, if i had a son he'd look

i'm soledad o'brien. people from across this nation are here in our audience tonight to talk about this case and the questions that it raises. questions that cut to the heart of a country that promises liberty and justice for all. [ chanting ] >> reporter: the killing of an unarmed teenager by a neighborhood watch volunte touca raw nerve across the nation. >> i know i can't bring my baby back, but i'm sure going to make changes so that this does not happen to another family. >> reporter: the absolute facts lie with two people, and one of them is dead. >> in the case of trayvon martin, it's not unique. a child incident killed by a ving launty. >> was it racially motivated? the answer is, absolutely not. >> what we worry about is seeking the truth. >> reporter: tonight we separate the facts from the emotion and have a candid conversation about race and justice. this salve more than trayvon martin. this is about itthe future of everyone child in america. >> if i had 0 son i think he'd look like trayvon. we h

hi, soledad.on rob blagojevich and his one-way ticket to colorado. he begins his 14 year prison sentence. we'll talk with a times reporter. today she might write her last blago story for quite some time. >>> plus we'll talk to the parents of one soldier in afghanistan. that's all coming up in the "cnn newsroom" at 9:00 a.m. eastern. sfloo and share your first car story at firstcarstory.com. courtesy of the 2012 subaru impreza. experience love that lasts. ♪ metamucil uses super hard working psyllium fiber, which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make you a model but you should feel a little more super. metamucil. down with cholesterol. >>> all right. take a look at this videotape. this is a deli owner in oregon. he's confronted by a would-be rob jert. surveillance video. he sprayed him with mace. that made the owner madder. he grabs a baseball bat and clobbers the robber senseless and chases him out of his store. apparently it was completely out of cont

>> soledad, we look into that in every shooting case.tion and test the firearm for trigger pull, functionality and everything. >> what happened to the autopsy results on trayvon's body? what do those say about that young man since obviously he can't tell us what happened. what do they show? was he bruised and injured? >> we can't comment on that now. i can tell that you our medical examiners here do a thorough outer body and internal procedure related to the autopsy. every injury is photographed and described in details. it's one the sadder things we deal with but necessary for the proof in this case. also his clothing will be examined by the florida department of law enforcement so every item of physical evidence to which we have access will be looked at, analyzed and preserved for any future tests that may need to be performed. >> when do you expect that would be made available? is that something that happens in the next couple days or weeks or a month? >> we just got assigned this case thursday night. my two top homicide prosecutors h

>> there's disbelief, soledad.belief at how this has been handled by the sanford police department and the sanford chief bill lee. it's almost as if they are being victimized all over again at the hands of the government authorities. >> that police chief has said, listen, there's evidence that in fact zimmerman was acting in self-defense and that apparently he had a concealed weapon permit. what do you think is the likelihood now that the case goes to the prosecution -- the prosecutor's offices that, in fact, he's going to be charged? >> you know, the family doesn't have very much faith right now. if we wouldn't have got involved in this and the media and the public with the outcry, they were going to sweep this kid's murder under the rug. when you think about the self-defense argument, it's just preposterous. he calls 911 and he says, i see a suspicious person. they tell him to wait in the car, they're on their way. he ignores and disregards the police instruction and gets out of his car with a .9 millimeter gun a

soledad?ages in syria the american family of a teenager who is living there says that the 16-year-old boy has been kidnapped. they say he was taken by syrian military intelligence four days ago. his name is haddi el shama, american citizen living with his mother in damascus since he was 3 years owed and attending a private school there. the state department says they are aware of the situation and are working to confirm the report. joining me this morning from toledo, ohio, are haddi's brothers. nice to see you gentlemen. thank you for talking with us. why want dough begin with you, hamza, first. tell me about the details you know out of syria regarding your brother. >> okay. currently it's been really sketchy, the information. what we do know is on monday, the 27th, when he was walking with a couple of his friends to a cell phone store, he was basically abducted by -- by, you know, people in an unmarked vehicle, plain clothed individuals. and apparently they put him in the vehicle and just, y

soledad goes one-on-one with newt gingrich. there will be headlines coming out of these interviews. >>> our super tuesday coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow evening. a special edition of "john king, usa" is followed by complete coverage at 7:00. we will be right back. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. i tried weight loss plans... but their shakes aren't always made for people with diabetes. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. and they have 6 grams of sugars. with 15 grams of protein to help manage hunger... look who's getting smart about her weight. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. no, i wouldn't use that single miles credit card. nice ring. knock it off. ignore him. with the capital one venture card you earn... double miles on every purchase. [ sharon ] 3d is so real larry. i'm right here larry. if you're not

soledad o'brien will be joined by former minnesota governor tim pawlenty. and the rnc chairman reince priebus will join her as well. >> still ahead, sarah palin talking to cnn on the wasila caucus cam. who did she vote for in alaska, and could she still jump into the race? >>> to completely do a right turn, let's talk football. colts reportedly set to part ways with peyton manning. could there be two mannings playing quarterback in new york? >> wouldn't that be something? >> oh, man, oh, man. first a quick check of your travel weather forecast. rob marciano busy for us this morning. how does it look out there? >> good morning, guys. >>> warming up and windy in many spots. compared to earlier in the week and last week, atmosphere breathing a sigh of relief. temperatures 10 to 20 degrees above average across the eastern third of the country. speaking of wind, boy, vegas got it and so did so cal yesterday. 105 mile an hour wind in big bear. and las vegas 63 miles an hour. blackouts in some parts of the city. definitely blowing pretty good. going to blow across

good morning, again. >>> good morning, soledad.renced the fifth amendment of the constitution that says no one can be deprived of life without due process of the law. he says due process doesn't mean judicial process, especially when it comes to national security. >> the nature of how terrorists act and where they tend to hide, it may not always be feasible to capture a united states sit center or list who presents an imminent threat of violent attack. in that case our government has the clear authority to defend the united states with lethal force. >> american was killed in a targeted drone attack in yemen last year. >>> police in houston hoping a $10,000 reward will help solve the murder miss stri. an iranian college student, activist was gunned down while she was driving home two months ago. the case has gained worldwide speculation that she was a target of a political attack. she was outspoken in promoting iranian women's rights and criticizing the eye rain yan government. >>> take a look at this disorder in the court. in sprin

. >> reporter: good morning, soledad.hat's interesting about this conversation, first of all, is robert zimmerman is speaking out on his son's behalf. he did not go on full camera. in other words, he's in silhouet silhouette, because he claims he is in fear for his own safety. that said, let's listen to his words. he points out what he describes as the dramatic life and death struggle that his son faced with trayvon martin. take a listen. >> after nearly a minute of being beaten, george was trying to get his head off the concrete, try iing to move, wit trayvon on him, into the grass. in doing so, his firearm was shown. trayvon martin said something to the effect of you're going to die now or, you're going to die tonight, something to that effect. he continued to beat george. and at some point, george pulled his pistol and did what he did. >> reporter: two quick things, soledad. number one, robert zimmerman was not there. he is, of course, recounting the words to the story line his son has told him. the other thing there a

>> good morn, soledad. i just saw pretty gruesome images in western afghanistan where this happened and there were some witnesses also talking saying that there was more than one soldier on the ground. there is a dispute at this point between what villages are saying and isep saying. look, this is the work of one soldier. there was no mission going on in the area. that soldier left his base. now, these villagers were apartment a kilometer to two kilometers away from the base and they said this happened sometime in the early morning hours of sunday, around 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning. but the scene there, a gruesome one. the pictures coming in to us just looked at, blood stained walls, blood stained floor, shell casings being picked up by investigators now and the bodies of children, women, and then that were piled into the back of p pickup trucks. the village is obviously very angry. many of them are shown crying, weeping, unable to speak. but some of them did speak out in the first thing they'd said is th

>> i don't know, soledad. what's that?you said forgive me, what do you mean when you say "you see." to me to say the economy is improving might be a bad strategy, right, because if everyone's going to vote on the economy, wouldn't that kind of give an advantage a little bit to the obama campaign? >> well, i don't want to put words in the governor's mouth. i'm not sure exactly what he was referring to but obviously according to the department of labor the employment number according to their numbers is going down. i dispute whether that's an accurate depiction of where americans are at today. i happen to think americans aren't better off today than they were three or four years ago, that's the issue whether or not barack obama fulfilled the p promises he made to the american people. not whether or not the employment number would be better in march or february than november and december. the unemployment number is lower than it was in january and december but doesn't take away from the fact we're nowhere near number one wher

you can't derail this, soledad.obama knew it. by the time he embraced him at harvard law school derrick bell had already given a speech in chicago two months before that caused a sensation which was about how white supremacy was still the order of the day and that black people were fooling themselves if they thought civil rights and equality were achievable goals. he said this. one of the people who came to his defense was jeremiah wright with whom bell had correspondence over the years. it is a connection that is very important. >> so your point, you're trying to make the point that derrick bell was somehow a serious radical, is that what you're trying to say? by connecting president obama to derrick bell, a harvard law student to a harvard law professor, the first black tenured professor at harvard law school, you're trying to make that connection? is that the bombshell? >> don't believe me, believe henry lewis gates jr. who said that derrick bell had a blind spot for antisemitism. don't believe me, believe one of

underscore soledad's point.onsistently last night as we have seen throughout, governor struggling with evangelical christians, middle income republicans, with those who consider themselves the most conservative. do you say any way for him to breakdown that very entrenched division in the party? do you see any signs of that eroding or is your camp going to have to live with that throughout the primary season? >> well, ron, as william f. buckley used to say, we won't the most conservative candidate who can also get elected. and mitt romney is conservative. if you look at his record of cutting taxes, growing jobs, cutting spending and the like, it's a conservative record but he can also get elected. the other candidates are viewed as less elect i belieable. when this field narrows, the party will unite, coalesce. it's a coalition. mitt romney has the capability and the merits to coalesce and unite this party and he will. it's not going to happen until the field narrows more fully. >> governor, i want to ask you abo

we turn over to soledad o'brien. "starting point." >> welcome, everybody, to "starting point."eaning up a nuclear site before nuclear inspectors arrive. could this push israel over the edge? we'll examine that question this morning. >>> sun shock. the largest solar storm in years is hammering the earth and could bring us dazzling lights

. >> good morning, soledad. atrocities on its doorstep, recalling its ambassador and closing its embassy in syria. the two countries share a 566-mile long border. 17,000 refugees who have fled the violence are in turkey. a human rights group says 14 more people were killed in syria in the last now hours. >>> french authorities filed criminal charges against the brother of mohammed merah. abdul qatar merah is accused of complicity in the seven murders and two attempted murders committed by his brother and charged with conspiracy to prepare for acts of trichlerror. >>> dick cheney underwent a heart transplant this weekend. he's 71 years old, he's had five heart attacks. before getting the transplant cheney was being kept alive by a heart pump that was implanted in 2010. >>> he's back for the first time in more than two years, tiger woods is a winner on the pga tour. woods ended the drought at the arnold palmer invitational yesterday with a five-stroke victory. 923 days, 923 since his last tour win, the master tees

we turn over to soledad o'brien. "starting point." >> welcome, everybody, to "starting point."eaning up a nuclear site before nuclear inspectors arrive. could this push israel over the edge? we'll examine that question this morning. >>> sun shock. the largest solar storm in years is hammering the earth and could bring us dazzling lights and could cause serious problems from rerouting planes to knocking out power grids. >>> rush limbaugh ditched, again. you can hear it on armed forces radio and now voices are saying, yank him off. those are our starting points for march 8th, 2012. ♪

. >> good morning, soledad. immigration bill on the verge of mapassing in mississippi. require police to check the immigration status of people arrested. ban illegal immigrants from obtaining drivers' licenses. the bill was approved by the state house is now headed to the senate where it is expected to pass. >>> the ex-miss stress of former presidential candidate john edwards is expected to testify in his federal trial next month. rielle hunter is expected to appear as a prosecution witness. prosecutors say rielle hunter received campaign monday friday in edwards. edwards denies it saying the money is a gift. if convicted he could face 30 years if prison. federal prosecutors granted hunter immunity for anything she says on the witness stand. >>> president obama hitting the road to raise campaign cash. he's headed to chicago today for a couple of midday fund-raisers and then off to atlanta for three more. one of them at tyler perry's home, another at perry's studio where celo green will perform. >>> vice presiden

soledad will host a town hall meeting "beyond trayvon: ra race & justice in america."tern time on cnn. >>> rick santorum is trying to explain his ugly confrontation with a "new york times" reporter and he seems to be suggesting it is all mitt romney's fault. on sunday santorum called romney the worst republican in the country to put up against president obama. "the new york times" reporter jeff zulani questioned him about that comment. here's the exchange. >> would you guys quit distorting what i'm saying. >> you think he's the worst -- >> on the issue of health care because he fashioned the blueprint. i've been saying it in every speech. quit distorting my words. if i see it, it's [ bleep ]. come on, man. what are you doing? >> well, you know the romney camp pounced on that. question the santorum's temperament in order to be president and santorum was on "the situation room" with wolf blitzer yesterday. here is how he explained that outburst. >> they sent a romney person to our speech. he fed the line to all the reporters. we saw it happening. and everybody in that --

i'm soledad o'brien.eople from across this nation are here in our audience tonight to talk about this case and the questions that it raises. questions that cut to the heart of a country that promises liberty and justice for all. let's take a look at some of the evidence that we do know. you have talked to a young woman named dede, trayvon martin's girlfriend. >> well, she heard was not him coming to identify himself as any neighborhood association captain or anything like that. he said what are you doing around here? as to suggest that he didn't have a right to be here. >> how many people in this room, you don't have to tell me how you decided, but how many people have already formed an opinion on george zimmerman's innocence or guilt? raise your hand. george zimmerman, if you can, paint a psychological profile of him from what we know. >> what concerns me about george zimmerman and this is the big moral flaw that i see that i find really concerning. it's that that man who had a license to carry a gun cho

soledad will ask dnc chairman about the timing of this.in our next hour. >>> take a good look at your tv screen, folks, yeah, quiet in this courtroom in springfield until that, whoa. yeah. that's the family. whoa, whoa. look at those officers. it's the family of a murder suspect's victim, alleged victim going after that suspect as he was brought into the courtroom. the courtroom officers had to tackle the alleged assailants in all of this. a real mess. total disorder in the courtroom. no word at this point, though, if anyone is going to be charged for whether that hearing got back. >> oh, goodness. >> violent. >> the mood in those kinds of hearings is just so tense. that's why you have that many officers in a courtroom, especially when you're talking about charges that serious. >>> all right. 48 minutes past the hour. soledad o'brien joins us now with what is ahead on "starting point." good morning. >> good morning to you. so much is ahead this morning on "starting point." we're going to talk to sam lahood, he's going to join us for his fi

soledad? >>> christine, thank you.o to commercial break i want to show folks as they start to pick up their belongings, this structure, that's a closet. people have been coming in and removing cloetsthes, etc. everything else around it has been absolutely shredded by the power of the storm. as you pointed out, christine, a little bit earlier, it's very hard to give a sense of how bad it really is. sometimes i think the pictures don't actually do justice to the damage that's taken place on this little street. we're going to take a short break. we come back on the other side. we'll talk to some family members whose mother was killed in the tornado when her home collapsed around her. we'll talk to them about how they're grieving and what they plan to do today. that's all ahead. we're back in just a moment. >>> it's absolutely been a horrific day here in harrisburg, illinois. we've lost six lives. we're very tight knit community. people care about each other and to lose six lives and have many, many hurt and of course mill

>> reporter: well, soledad, look, this is exactly the sort of slone wolf scenario we've heard about, from peter king in new york that held hearings about. this is the very thing we've been concerned about here in the united states. you've got an individual. you realize in retro expect now, looking back, he travelled to afghanistan. we don't know. there are many questions that remain unanswered. who did he meet with there? what did he do? was he trained? was he radicalized during that trip? he obviously had contact with french forces in afghanistan, who made the decision to return him. if they notified their internal intelligence and security services in france they were aware of this, their travels to afghanistan? we don't know. we've also suffered in the united states with the lack of information sharing between agencies. so this very much sounds like the sort of individual we worry about in the united states. >> i know there was tremendous interest, fran, and i think the reason this standoff went on for so long is they really wanted to get him alive. that they thought there was inf